Pig-handling apparatus.



J. F.'SCHNABEL.

PIG HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATIONTILED DEC. 30,1907.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

wlTNssE-EE: INVEZN'IDR ATTORNEY THE NURRIS PETERS cc., wasnmnrou. n. c.

J. P. SGHNABEL.

PIG HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 30.1901

Patented Nov. 29, I910.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

c I I I v I 6.9 7666 2 63 65 45 7s 8 J6 g} '1uni/In,1,11,11,11,,IIIz/I/zzz/I/IlI/I K 85 INVENTOR ATTORNEY THE NGRRIS PETERS can, WASHINGTON, 'n. c

J. F. SGHNABEL.

PIG HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED Dnq. 30,1901.

WITNESSES: f INVENTOR. W y W M Y 4;, MZZM 4- 4 M A TTORNE Y.

r: NORRIS PETERS co., WASHINGTON, uv c J. 'P. SGHNABEL.

PIG HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 30,1907. Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

6 SHEETSSHEET 4.

' 5 5 LL A 4 1 ll U my g uuw w G U Z5 ad,

WITNESSE: f INVENTOR '9 f 74fiMLIM M 4 ATTORNEY J. F. SGHNABEL.

PIG HANDLING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED DEG.30,1907

977,046. Patent ed NOV. 29, 1910.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5. T 11- I illllilllllllllll llllllllllmlll IIIHIIH 2 5 mmmnm 24 H H H H C D 207; I 20 J5 g 5 i3 7 clmun' f/ IIUII C 3 a mum: 20 e0 ATTORNEY r: NORRIS PETERS co, wAsH/mrmu, a. c.

J. P. SGHNABEL. PIG HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLIGATION FILED DEG. 30,1907. Patented NOV. 29

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

A V 27 r llllillflh Il 32 28 K l A "W" fl v v W/TNESSES: f INVENTOR. I j fewyw M nirnn srnwrnnr ornion.

JAMES F. SCHNABEL, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTRIC CONTROLLER AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A COR- PORATION OF OHIO.

PIG-HANDLING APPARATUS.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES F. SCHNABEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered new and useful Improvements in Pig-Handling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for transporting pigs from the casting bed to a breaking table; then breaking the sow off from the pigs, and the pigs into sections; and finally loading the broken sections into railway cars.

Referring to the drawings accompanying this specification, Figure 1 is an elevation, mostly diagrammatic, showing one form of my invention. the casting bed being shown in section and partly broken away. In this view, the traveling bridge is also broken away at the righthand end. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view taken at a right angle to Fig. 1 and showing the machine ready to break the pig-iron, the car being in section. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the lower end of the right hand trolley. looking to the left on Fig. 1, the breaker being in position to lift the pigs out of the sand. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the breaker-trolley taken centrally through Fig. (3 on a line at right angles to the shafts 45 and 50. Fig. is a partial side elevation and vertical section, the section being taken centrally through Fig. 6, parallel with the shafts L5 and 50. Fig. 6 is a plan of the breaker trolley. Fig. 7 is a plan of the breaker bed, with the pig-iron and the cars shown in dotted lines. Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of that portion of the breaker which cracks the sow off from the pigs. Fig. 9 is a horizontal cross-section just above the cross-head 28. Fig. 10 is a vertical section of the upper end of the trolley 13, the section being through the screws 29. Fig. 11 is a horizontal section of the trolley 13 looking up just beneath the drum 23, the gearing for the motors t6 and 51 being omitted. Fig. 12 is a perspective of the cross-heads 28, 34, and 35 with associated parts.

On the drawings, 1 represents the sand bed in which the molds are made for casting the pig-iron. 2 is the usual runway Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 30, 1907.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

Serial No. 408,513.

which conducts the molten iron from the melting furnace to the casting bed.

3 is an overhead traveling bridge caused to move from one end of the cast house to the other in a well-known manner. 4 is the motor for driving the bridge through the gearing'5, the shaft 6, and the gearing 7, the latter being connected to the traction wheels 8 (only one shown) running on the rails 9 (only one shown).

10 is a trolley having travel lengthwise of the bridge on a pair of rails 11 located outside the rails 12 on which the breaker trolley 13 travels. Referring to Fig. 2, the cross-frame lt of the trolley 10 is seen to be above the top of the trolley 13, so that the trolley 10 can pass the trolley 13. The trolley 10 has the two power-driven drums 15, (Fig. 2) from which are suspended the cables 16 having their lower ends connected to opposite ends of the beam 17 which supports (Fig. l) the lifting magnet 18. The trolley 13 carries the motor 19, having the driving shaft 19' which carries the pinion 19* gearing with the spur-wheel 20. The wheel 20 is connected to the spur-gear 20", which meshes with the gear wheel 2O on the shaft 20 running from one side of the trolley to the other (Fig. 11). The shaft 20 has fixed thereon the two spur-gears 20, meshing with the spur-gears 20 secured to the axles 20 of the track wheels 20 of the trolley 13. The track wheels 20 on the trolley are not connected to any driving mechanism. The wheels 20 and 20 run on the rails 12.

The trolley 13 carries the beam 20 in which the ends of the cables 21 are dead ended. The cables pass down under the sheaves 22 and up to drum 23, to which they are secured. The sheaves 22 are carried by the sheave block 26 pivotally connected to the cars 27 at the center of the cross-head 28. The drum 23 is driven by the motor 24 whose motor shaft 24 has secured thereon the pinion 24 which meshes with the gear 25, the latter being connected to the gear 25 meshing with the gear 25 on the shaft 25, which extends across the trolley 13. The shaft 25 has thereon'the gear 25 which meshes with the gear 25 on the shaft 25 carrying the drum 23.

Two pairs of screws 29 and 30 are provided at their lower ends with the thrust collars 31 fitting in the bushings 32 in the cross-head 28. The upper end of the screws 29 and 30 work in the threaded bushings 33 in the cross-heads 34 and 35, respectively. The bevel gears 36 rotate the square shafts 37 which extend axially through the screws 29, and the bevel gears 38 rotate the square shafts 39 which extend axially through the screws 30. The cross-heads 34 and 35 have secured to them the cables 40, which run over the sheaves 41 and have the counter weights 42 attached thereto. By connecting the counterweights to the upper crossheads instead of the lower cross-head, the friction 011 the screws and thrust bearings is much lessened, as will be readily seen. One memberof each pair of screws is threaded in an opposite direction to that in which the other member of the pair is threaded, thus requiring that the members of each pair of screws be turned in the opposite direction. This is accomplished in the case of the screws 29 by means of the bevel gears 43 and 44 which are on the shaft 45 and mesh with the adjacent sides of the bevel gears 36. The latter is driven by the motor 46 through the gearing 47. The same thing is accomplished in the case of the screw 30 by means of the bevel gears 48 and 49, meshing with the gears 38 and carried by the shaft 50, which is driven by the motor 51 through the gearing 52.

The cross-head 28 is rigidly connected to a lower cross-head 53 by the two vertical hollow rods 54 and 55, (Fig. 4) the hollows extending entirely through the cross-heads 28 and The cross-heads 34 and 35 carry the respective plungers 56 and 57, which extend down through the cross-head 28, the rods 54 and 55, and the cross-head 53. The lower end of plunger 56 has thereon the sow-breaking head 58 (Figs. 4 and 5) and the plunger 57, the pig-breaking head 59 (Figs. 4 and 5), the head 58 having the spaced breaking points 60 (Fig. 8), and the head 59, the horizontal face 61 (Fig.

The cross-head 53 pivotally supports at or near each end the hooks 62 and 63. The

hook 62 has the cross-bar or anvil 64 connecting together the lower ends of the sidemembers or arms 65, which are oscillatory on the pivots 66 in the cross-head 53; and the hook 63 has the cross-bar 67 connecting together the lower ends of the side-members or arms 68, which are oscillatory on the pivot 69 in the cross-head 53. The plunger 56 has secured to its lower end the collar 70 which is connected to the arms 65 by the links 71 and the plunger 57 has secured to its lower end the collar 72 which is connected to the arms 68 by the links 73. The arms 65 and 68 have the respective extension breaker 59 within its central opening.

arms 74 and 75 which cross each other above the pivots 66 and 69. Pendent links 76 extend from these extension arms to the opposite ends of the equalizer bars 77, at opposite sides of the head 59. The middles of the bars 77 are pivotally connected to the cars 78 extending up from opposite sides of the hollow lifting magnet 79. The magnet is of such a size at least to receive the It is clear that the magnet 79 could be raised and lowered by the action of one plunger alone, merely by connecting the arms 74 or the arms 75 alone to the. magnet.

80 is the operators cage which is preferably placed on the lower end of the casing 80 of the trolley 13, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In this position the operator will be close to the heads 58 and and the hooks 62 and 68, so that he can accurately observe the operations of the breaking mechanism.

81 is the bed on which the pigs are broken. It consists of a pair of parallel bars 82 (Figs. 2 and 7), located at one end of the casting building or elsewhere and preferably over a railway track 83, between which and the bed 81 one or more cars 84 may be placed to receive the pigs after they have been broken. The bars 82 are spaced apart so as to support opposite ends of the pigs 84, while attached to the sow 85, their relative positions being shown in dotted lines on Fig. 7 and in full lines on Fig. 2, where the bars 82 are closer together than in Fig. 7

The cross-bar 64 of the hook 62 has the anvil or breaker point 86 extending above its general upper surface midway between the points 60 on the bottom of the head 58, as shown clearly in Fig. 8.

I have not deemed it necessary to show the wiring for connecting the various motors and magnets to their sources of power or to the operators cage or to show the switches by which the operator in the cage 80 may actuate the motors and magnets in any desired order or combination, as these can be supplied by any electrician skilled in the art.

)Vhen a bed of pigs has been made and the same has become sufficiently cool to be lifted by the magnets without injuring them, the motors 46 and 51 are operated so as to raise the plungers 56 and 57 relatively to the cross-head The motors will rot-ate so as to cause the screws 29 and 30 to sepa rate the cross-head 28 from the cross-heads 34 and 35 sufiiciently to spread the hooks 62 and 63, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3 and dotted lines in Fig. 4. The raising of the plungers causes the links 71 and 73 to push out the said hooks to the said raised positions. As the upper arms 7 4 and 75 of the hooks move downwardly as the hooks move up, the magnet 79 will descend, the parts being proportioned so that when the hooks have been fully extended, the lower face of the magnet 79 will lie below the lower ends of the hooks. Vith the hooks extended and the magnet 79 lowered the trolley 13 is moved by the motor 19 so as to bring the magnet over one end of the bed of pigs to be transported to the breaker bed 81. The motor 24 is then actuated so as to lower the magnet 79 into contact with the pigs. Also the trolley 10 has been moved to bring the magnet 18 over the other end of the bed of pigs and the magnet lowered into contact with the pigs. The operator then supplies current to the lifting magnets; hoists the magnets with the bed of pigs at tached thereto, as shown in Fig. 1; moves the trolleys and the bridge so as to bring the pigs over a selected portion "of the breaker bed 81; lowers the bed of pigs upon the bed 81; de'e'nergizes the magnets; hoists the magnet 18, unless it be desired to further use the same to shift or hold the pigs; and actuates the screws to lower the hooks and raise the magnet 79. When the operator has performed the last operation described the hooks and magnet 79 should assume substantially the positions shown in Figs. 2, 4t, and 8. in which the opposite ends of the pigs lie on the bars 61 and 67 of the hooks; the head 58 lies on the sow 85, which is slightly above the point 86 (Fig. 8); the head 59 lies on the central portion of a pair of pigs, and over the space between the bars 82 of the breaker bed. The motor 46 is now actuated so as to cause the plunger 56 to-descend. The lowering of this plunger first causes the head 58 to break off a portion of the sow 85 from the pigs and then causes the points 60 to break the broken section of the sow upon the point 86. The motor 51 is then actuated to cause the plunger 57 to descend, causing the head 59 to break two of the pigs 84 in the middle. The hooks and breaker heads are moved slightly away from the bed of pigs and the trolley 13 is then actuated to bring the hooks and breaker heads into position for breaking off another section of the sow and for breaking in two another pair of pigs. The operation described is repeated until the whole bed of pigs has been broken. It will be observed that the broken pieces of the pigiron will fall into the cars 84. In case it be desired to have the magnets 18 and 79 exchange positions, so as to get the breaker on the opposite side of the auxiliary trolley 10 or magnet 18, this can be easily effected by causing the trolleys 10 and 13 to pass each other as hereinbefore described. Unless the trolley 10 could pass the trolley 13, it would not be easy to break the pigs entirely to the end of the bed because the trolley 10 would be in the way. Instead of dragging the bed of pigs out from under the trolley 10, in order to enable the breaker to work on the last few pigs, the trolley 10 can be quickly moved past the trolley 18.

Furthermore the trolley 10 may be used for other purposes on either side of the trolley 13, if it be desired to do so.

I do not desire to be limited to the specific elements and combinations described, but include within my invention all elements and combinations coming within the spirit thereof.

I claim- 1. In a pig-breaking machine, the combination of a lifting magnet, pig-supporting hooks below the magnet during the operative position of the hooks, means for moving the said hooks into and away from the said position, plungers arranged to engage and break the pig-metal while supported by the hooks, connections among the plungers, the hooks, and the magnet to cause the magnet to sink and the hooks to rise, whereby the magnet may be operatively applied to a bed of pig iron.

2. In a pig-breaking machine, the combination of upper and lower cross-heads, sup porting hooks for a pig-bed, carried by one cross-head, av pig-breaking plunger carried by the other cross-head, and means acting on the cross-heads to cause the plunger to engage and break the pig-metal while supported by the hooks.

3. In a pig-breaking machine, the combination of upper and lower crossheads, supporting hooks for a pigbed, carried by one cross-head, a pig-breaking plunger carried by the other cross-head, means acting on the cross-heads to cause the plunger to engage and break the pig-metal while supported by the hooks, and a connection between the plunger and the hooks for swinging the latter.

at. In a pig-breaking machine, the combination of upper and lower cross-heads, one crosshead carrying hooks to support a bed of pig iron, the other cross-head carrying a plunger for breaking the pig iron while on the said hooks, a screw connecting the crossheads to cause the cross-heads to move toward and away from each other, a support for said cross-heads secured to the lower cross-head, and counter-balancing mechanism for said cross-heads secured to the upper cross-head.

5. In means for transporting beds of pigs and breaking the same, a pig-breaker bed on which a bed of pigs may be deposited, two hoisting trolleys arranged to travel from a position over the pig casting bed to a position over the said breaker-bed, a lifting magnet carried by each trolley, and separate tracks for the trolleys, one trolley being constructed to bridge and pass over the other, and whereby the former trolley may cooperate with the latter at either side thereof.

6. In a pig-breaking machine, the combination of a swinging hook, to receive thereon in one position one side of a bed of pigiron, a plunger to break the pigiron while on the said hook, and a connection between the plunger and the hook to swing the hook from under the pig-iron when the plunger is raised.

7. In a pig-breaking machine, the combination of a traveler, means carried by the traveler and arranged to support a bed of pigiron, and a plunger also carried by the traveler and arranged to break portions from the said bed while the bed is in contact with the first means.

8. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley, devices suspended therefrom for supporting a bed of pig-iron, and means on the trolley for breaking the pig-iron while so suspended.

9. In a pig-breaking machine, a support for the ends of the pigs next to the sow, a plunger located over the sow and arranged to break the sow from the pigs when the pigs are resting on said support, said plunger having spaced breaking points in line with the sow, and a breaking point on said support beneath said sow and between the said breaking points on the plunger to break the sow after it has been detached from the pigs.

10. In a pig-breaking machine, a support for the ends of the pigs next to the sow, a plunger located over the sow when the pigs are resting on said support, said plunger having spaced breaking points in line with the sow, a breaking point on said support beneath said sow and between the said breaking points on the plunger, a second plunger arranged over the central portion of the pigs to break them after the sow has been detached therefrom, and means for causing the actuation of the said plungers.

11. In a pig-breaking machine, the combination of a trolle a lifting magnet carried thereby, hooks carried thereby for supporting a bed of pig-iron, and means for simultaneously raising the magnet and lowering the hooks, and vice versa.

12. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley, a lifting magnet carried thereby, means for supporting the bed of pig-iron, and a plunger arranged to work through a central opening in the magnet for breaking the pigs.

13. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley, a lifting magnet carried thereby, means for supporting the bed of pig-iron, a plunger arranged for breaking the pigs, and means for causing the magnet to be below the plunger during a lifting operation of the magnet.

14. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley, a lifting magnet, a pair of pig-bed supporting hooks, arranged to be swung toward and away from said magnet, and means for causing the magnet to lie below the books when the latter have been swung away from said magnet.

15. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley, a lifting magnet and pig-supporting hooks thereon, and connections therebetween whereby the magnet counterbalances the hooks.

16. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley, a pig-bed lifting and a pig-breaking mechanism suspended therefrom, an operators cage carried on the trolley, means for lowering the said mechanism below the cage for a lifting operation, and for raising the same close to the cage for the pig-breaking operation.

17. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley, means thereon for lifting a bed of pig iron, a pig-breaking mechanism and an operators cage also on said trolley, and means for lowering said lifting means and raising said breaking mechanism relatively to the said cage.

18. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley, a lifting magnet thereon, means for raising and lowering the magnet, and a plunger carried by the trolley for breaking the pigs.

19. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley,

pig-lifting and breaking devices suspended therefrom, means for raising and lowering said devices as a whole, and means for actuating the breaking devices independently of the lifting devices.

20. In a pig-breaking machine, a trolley, pig-lifting and breaking devices suspended therefrom, and means for raising and lowering said devices as a whole.

Signed at Pittsburg, Pa., this Qth day of December 1907.

JAMES F. SCI-INABEL.

WVitnesses:

ALICE E. DUFF, F. N. BARBER. 

